New True Crime Documentary Asks: Did Celeste Beard Actually Orchestrate Her Texas Media Mogul Husband’s Murder?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Criminally Obsessed

Episode: New True Crime Documentary Asks: Did Celeste Beard Actually Orchestrate Her Texas Media Mogul Husband’s Murder?

Date: June 3, 2026
Host: Anne Emerson
Guest: Walt Makavorsky (KITV, Austin TX; podcast host: Love, Lies and a Shotgun Shell)

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Episode Overview

This gripping episode dives into the shocking murder of Texas media mogul Steve Beard, focusing on the upcoming true crime documentary Celeste: Trophy Wife or Frame for Life. Host Anne Emerson and investigative journalist Walt Makavorsky break down the turbulent marriage between Steve Beard and Celeste, the tangled web of relationships, the murder and its aftermath, and the contentious question: was Celeste Beard the mastermind or a wrongly accused woman?

Walt, with years of investigative reporting into the case, shares behind-the-scenes insights and exclusive stories leading up to the release of both the documentary and his companion podcast.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Steve Beard: The Victim and His World

• Media Mogul’s Background (02:14–04:19)
  • Steve Beard was a self-made man who built and sold a TV station, walking away with nearly $20 million in the mid-90s.
  • Loved and respected in Austin, characterized as a "big, gregarious, huggable teddy bear."
  • After his wife’s death from brain cancer, he descended into alcoholism and depression.

Celeste Enters the Scene: Marriage, Money, and Motive

• Celeste’s Arrival & Relationship (04:28–06:30)

  • Met Steve as a waitress at the Austin Country Club.
  • “She said, 'I’ve been abused. I know how to deal with a guy like this. I’ll serve him.' ...And she does in more ways than one.” – Walt (04:28)
  • Moved into Steve’s mansion just ten days after his wife’s death.
  • Relationship quickly seen as suspicious by Steve's family and friends.

• Celeste’s Tumultuous Background (06:40–07:50)

  • Athletic and bright, her life changed due to sexual abuse in her childhood, later leading to instability and early pregnancies (twins).
  • Had multiple marriages before Steve: "I think Steve was number four." – Walt (07:50)

• Steve and the Twins: Blended Family (08:48–09:49)

  • Steve embraced Celeste’s daughters, Jennifer and Christina, treating them as his own.
  • Outwardly, their family appeared ideal, but deep tensions and secrets simmered.

The Shattered Marriage: Volatility & Vulnerability

• Celeste’s Struggles and Downward Spiral (10:04–11:26)
  • Despite access to tremendous wealth ($15,000/month allowance), Celeste was deeply unhappy and spiraled into depression.
  • "The money wasn’t satisfying Celeste… she felt trapped." – Walt (10:04)
  • Checked into a psychiatric facility after repeatedly threatening suicide.

The Tracy Tarleton Connection

• Meeting Tracy in Treatment (13:03–13:50)
  • Celeste formed a close, allegedly romantic bond with fellow patient Tracy Tarleton.
  • Walt: "[Tracy] says they were having a good time together and they were in love and she was manipulated by Celeste to do her bidding." (13:25)

The Crime: Shooting & Aftermath

• Shooting Night Breakdown (14:04–16:33)
  • Steve was shot point-blank in his own bed at 3 a.m.; made a dramatic 911 call: "My guts just jumped out of my stomach." – Steve Beard, 911 call (00:05, 16:53)
  • No sign of a break-in or theft; the scene appeared staged.

The Investigation Heats Up

• Evidence Points to Tracy (18:00–18:34)

  • A shotgun shell traced directly to Tracy Tarleton’s weapon leads to her swift arrest.
  • Discovery prompted by a family member openly suggesting, "It was that crazy Tracy Tarleton" (19:15).

• Celeste’s Maneuvers & Suspicions (19:49–22:52)

  • While Tracy was charged, questions swirled about Celeste’s involvement: suspicion heightened by her controlling behavior at the hospital and disturbing acts such as trying to infect Steve’s medical wounds after his release.

• From Attempted to Actual Murder (22:52–23:15)

  • Steve succumbed to complications (infection, embolism) from the gunshot wound after several months in the hospital, turning the case from attempted murder to homicide.

Celeste’s Odd and Alarming Behavior After Steve’s Death

• Post-Murder Actions (24:14–25:30)

  • Immediately began spending Steve’s money, taking lavish trips.
  • Shocking episode: took her daughters casket shopping for themselves after Steve's funeral ("Let's pick out your caskets now." – recounted by Walt, 23:33)

• Plotting Against Tracy (25:28–26:49)

  • Allegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill Tracy Tarleton to eliminate her as a witness, with assistant Donna Goodson as go-between.
  • Instead, Tracy, feeling betrayed after Celeste remarried, went to prosecutors and laid out the case against Celeste.

The Trial: Drama, Testimony, and a Smoking Gun

• Legal Fireworks (26:49–29:26)

  • Defense: Legendary Texas lawyer Dick DeGuerin, known for high-profile defenses (Durst, Koresh).
  • DeGuerin tried to undermine Tracy as an unreliable, “crazy” witness, even lampooning Steve’s size in court, potentially offending the jury (28:00).
  • "Her testimony, she was rock solid. She never swayed. And that was really, really turned it." – Walt (28:00)

• The Tapes: The Daughter’s Betrayal (29:47–31:59)

  • The most damning evidence: audio tapes secretly recorded by Celeste’s twin daughters, revealing her verbally abusing them.
  • “When jurors heard it, Celeste went off so bad on her daughters on tape ... like Jekyll and Hyde.”—Walt (30:17)
  • DeGuerin claimed the tapes were doctored/spliced but jurors found the daughters credible.

Inside Celeste’s Mind: Her Own Words

• Celeste’s Perspective (32:51–33:20)
  • From prison, Celeste continued to assert her innocence:
    • “I miss him every day. And I’m so sorry that my kids just ruined his life. ... If I could earn my freedom, then that would be different.” – Celeste (32:53)
  • Walt notes how easy it is to fall under Celeste’s persuasive spell before realizing the breadth of evidence against her.

The Aftermath and Ripples for the Family

• Returning to the Crime Scene (35:13–38:11)

  • Walt shares the surreal story of returning to the scene of the murder with one of Celeste's twins, Jen, now an adult.
  • "He said, ‘This is kind of creepy and cool at the same time,’” receiving a framed photo of the original home’s control panel (37:07).

• Jen’s Tragic Parallel (39:22–40:36)

  • Years later, Jen herself was shot in the stomach with a shotgun during a party—by a roommate. The same surgeon who saved Steve Beard's life operated on her.
  • “You have the same exact shotgun blast. Are you kidding me? Unbelievable.” – Walt recounts (40:36)

Lingering Questions & Ongoing Debate

• Poison, Plots, and Denials (40:39–41:58)

  • Multiple attempts on Steve’s life, including alleged poisoning and suffocation plots.
  • "You know, it's such a wild case because there's so many different avenues to go down. And at the end of the day, Celeste didn't pull the trigger." – Walt (41:47)

• Tracy’s Sentence vs. Celeste’s (42:28–42:52)

  • Tracy took a plea deal (20 years, parole after 10) after turning state's evidence; Celeste was convicted and remains incarcerated.
  • “People are still divided over this. ... She got 20 years and parole after 10. ... She’s a free woman living in Texas.” – Walt (42:28)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Steve’s Haunting 911 Call:
  "My guts jumped out of my stomach." – Steve Beard (00:05; 16:53)

• Walt on Celeste’s Persuasiveness:
  "She gives you a little bit of rope, and then she starts pulling you in inch by inch ... You kind of think, oh man, maybe she was wronged, and then you ... realize how much research you've done on the case, and like, whoa, I get it now." (32:22)

• Juror’s Reaction to the Tape:
  "Who talks to their kids that way? ... She went, oh, no, this changes the whole dynamic. I believe everyone else now. I believe the girls and the hell they were going through living with this." (30:17)

• On Returning to the House:
  "Things have moved. It’s got a weird sense in there. Almost haunted by Steve Beard’s ghost.” – Walt (37:11)

• Jen’s Tragic Parallel:
  "'Hey Jen, remember me? I'm the surgeon who saved your dad's life and you're going to be okay. You have the same exact shotgun blast. Are you kidding me? Unbelievable.'" (40:36)

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Key Timestamps

• Steve’s 911 Call: 00:05, 16:53
• Background on Steve's Wealth & Character: 02:14–04:19
• Celeste’s Early Life & Relationships: 06:40–07:50
• Celeste Spending Money/Volatility: 10:04–11:57
• First Meeting with Tracy Tarleton: 13:03–13:50
• Shooting Description & Investigation: 14:04–18:34
• Hospital Events & Suspicious Behavior: 19:49–22:52
• Celeste’s Odd Post-Murder Actions: 24:14–25:28
• Tracy Flips, Celeste Arrested: 25:30–26:49
• Trial Highlights: 26:49–29:26
• Daughters’ Tape: 29:47–31:59
• Celeste in Her Own Words: 32:51–33:20
• Crime Scene Revisited: 35:13–38:11
• Jen’s Parallel Shooting: 39:22–40:36
• Discussion of Other Murder Attempts: 40:39–41:47
• Tracy’s Sentence: 42:28–42:52

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Tone & Language

• Conversational, intense, and deeply empathetic toward victims.
• Anne and Walt maintain a balance between journalistic curiosity, sensitivity to those harmed, and genuine shock at the details.

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Final Thoughts

This episode stands out for its thorough, investigative approach, illuminating the complex personalities involved and the wider impact of Steve Beard's murder. Listeners come away with a nuanced understanding of both the evidence and the emotional fallout—while being teased with exclusive material available in the upcoming documentary and Walt’s podcast. The unsettling question remains: was Celeste a manipulative mastermind, or the victim of a setup?

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If you’re fascinated by true crime that keeps twisting when you think it’s over, this is not to be missed—watch the documentary, listen to the linked podcasts, and form your own verdict.

Transcript

[A]

Hi, everyone. I'm Ann Emerson, and this is Criminally Obsessed.

[B]

Jumped out of my stomach.

[A]

You heard that, right? That's Steve beard. He's calling 911 saying that his guts jumped out of his stomach. He didn't know he'd been shot by his wife's lover.

[C]

I walked down at the end of

[B]

the bed and I saw him, and

[C]

I pulled up and I shot him. Shot him? Was shot him? Was.

[A]

But was his wife Celeste behind his murder?

[C]

I think she's a monster.

[A]

Or is she innocent?

[D]

Of course I'm framed. It's just all a big setup. My kids have done this to me, and it kills me, and it just. I don't understand it.

[A]

Our newest true crime documentary, Celeste Trophy Wife or Frame for Life, is dropping Friday right here on on Crimly Obsessed. And today I have Walt Makavorsky joining me. He's the news anchor at KITV in Austin, Texas. He's been digging into the murder of Steve Beard for years now for his own podcast, Love, Lies and A Shotgun Shell. He's also featured in this documentary, both drop on Friday, June 5th. And be sure to, like, subscribe and get notified when this stock drops. You're going to want to cancel your Friday night plans for this one. Now, let's get into it. Walt, tell me how you got involved in this, in this documentary.

[C]

It was kind of a haunting moment. You know, I. I saw this picture of a person in front of the station, and the call letters were different. It said KBVO or kbo, which is the Texas mascot. And I said, who is that guy? And somebody said, oh, that's Steve Beard. He built this station. And he was murdered. I'm like, what? So that kind of started a chain of events where I started digging into the case. And he had this wife who was 40 years younger than him that everybody says was a trophy wife and wanted him gone.

[A]

Let's get into this story of. Can you. Can you take us through what happened to Steve Beard?

[C]

So he's a media mogul. He built this TV station, then sold it for a huge amount of money. I think it was like 54 million. And after all the bills and investors were paid, he walked away with close to 20 million. That was a lot of money in the 90s. So 94, 95. He was a multimillionaire, but his wife was dying of brain cancer, so that sent him into a depression like it would anyone. They had a beautiful relationship. So she dies, and he would start going up to the club, just talking to whoever he could about it. And he would get drunk every night. He was a raging alcoholic and nobody liked serving him except for one waitress who knew his story. I mean, he was a bootstrap guy. Worked hard, played hard. Everybody knew him in radio and TV Here they said he was a big, gregarious, huggable teddy bear. Everybody loved the guy. And he really built a reputation here as a hard working media kind of mogul in the, in the city of Austin. And that was kind of new at the time, but beautiful family had think it was three kids with Elise and it was great. And he was nearing 70, already lived a full life. And then his wife died, kids were out of the house and he went

[A]

into this depression and so he's drinking a lot. So we're in the 90s at Country

[C]

Club kind of life, you know, Austin in the 90s. I call it the roaring 90s. It was wild here. You know, Dell is kind of making its way in the world. You have these so called Dellionaires driving Porsche boxers around town where the live music capital of the world. We still had the concerts and the parties. It's a College Town with Ut McConaughey was just kind of getting his feet wet before the, you know. All right, all right, all right. And it was a great town to be in. So he was living in old Austin with a ton of money and he was a member of Austin Country Club.

[A]

Well, Walton, he meets this, this beautiful blonde bombshell from. From what we understand, right, perfect.

[C]

That's the perfect description. You know, he's going up to Austin Country Club. You know, lots of money in Austin. Country Club. Movers, shakers. He would go and he would sit in his normal seat and nobody likes serving him because said, oh, Steve's kind of gruff once that vodka hits. And he only would drink Wolf Schmidt vodka. That was his call. And he would actually take that on vacations with him. But he would take his vodka and he would just get hammered every night, sometimes to passing out. So nobody wanted to serve him. Except for that one waitress, the new waitress who people say was stalking all the rich men at the club. And her name was Celeste. She said, I've been abused. I know how to deal with a guy like this. I will serve him. She's like 30 and she does in more ways than one. And I know this is a family show, but. So he goes in there every night. So he's telling stories of how he's caring for his dying wife. And you know, they were both alcoholics. So he would say how he Would spoon the vodka to his wife's lips, and she was dying. And Celeste would say, oh, that's so kind of you. You're so in love. I wish I had something like that. Well, she wished she wanted a lot more than that. So at least his wife dies. And then 10 days later, Celeste moves into the mansion. And that was awkward for a lot of friends and family.

[A]

Well, he had a lot of friends and family, too.

[C]

Oh, yeah. It's like, hey, who is this girl? The story was early on, oh, just a housemaid. I don't want to talk about it. It's just a housemaid. Well, then the friends were seeing him get kind of really close to the housemaid, and that was weird. It's like, what kind of housemate is this? Right? So the relationship was awkward out of the gate. Then everybody realized, oh, she knows he's a millionaire. He's lonely. He didn't care. He had a bunch of money and nobody to share it with. So Celeste was the perfect person to do that.

[A]

This relationship with Celeste. And, you know, she is. She's a young mom. She's got a couple of kids, right?

[C]

Yeah. And that's the tough thing. You know, if I could go back to her, upgrading. She was super smart, athletic, and she really had the world by the tail as a young person. But then she was abused by her father. Stepfather. In the house. That sent her into a tailspin. The grades fell, the. The sports stopped. And then she got pregnant with twins.

[A]

And these girls were not with her, though, right? They were living with the dad.

[C]

So it started out, they tried to make it work. I think he was in Seattle, and then the relationship started going south. Then she left him. But one of the girl, one of the twins stayed with him in Seattle, and she had the other twin, Christina. And then she came to Austin, but she got remarried.

[A]

So this woman has been married a few times, right? I mean, before she meets Steve, she has been on a roll.

[C]

That's kind. Yes, she's been on a roll. I think Steve was number four.

[A]

I think so.

[C]

I think Steve was number four. So she has these twins. She wants to be the best mom that she can be. And Steve is grounded. He's got a lot of money. He wants to adopt her twin daughters. So she has Christina with her. And Steve says, look, I'm going to adopt her daughters. Let's try to get your other daughter in Seattle down to Texas, and we'll have the family together. But Christina's dad and Jennifer's dad, Jennifer was living with him. He committed.

[A]

Oh.

[C]

Jen did not want to come to Austin, but then she had no choice, so she was worried. She told me she was worried about being with her mom. But, you know, when she got there, she loved Steve. So the twins are together, Christina and Jennifer and Celeste. And it. From the outside, it was the perfect Brady Bunch happy family. But there were some dark secrets.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, it starts unraveling pretty quickly, right? I mean, they. They have this relationship. They've got these girls now. What was Steve's relationship with these twins? How was he with them?

[C]

Well, he was really their father figure. He would take them shopping and take them to brunch at the club and really kind of wrapped his arms around them and said, look, I'm your protector. I will protect you. I love you. You are my family now, and I love your mom. He loves Celeste until his dying moment, despite everything that happened. But he was going to make this the best family possible. He had the money, and he had tons of love to share. So the girls started feeling safe in his arms and in the house. So that was the great thing. Celeste wasn't happy. So I think she realized, hey, he's 70, I'm 30, he's overweight. I'm just starting my life. I got a ton of money, and it'd be nice if he was out of the picture.

[A]

But Celeste, she is not the most stable of characters. What gets her to sort of the next stage of her life where she meets someone that can help her out?

[C]

So she is. She has a lot of demons, and she could not outrun her demons. You know, the sexual abuse in her past. She said some of her husbands were abusive, so she was processing a lot. And she also battled depression, so things were great out of the gate. But then the depression crept in, the manipulation crept in. She didn't like being with Steve, So Steve said, hey, let's figure this out. Let's go on a vacation. Well, she said, I can't go on a vacation with this guy or I'll myself. And he goes, you know what? This is not working out. I think I want a divorce. She freaks out because there was a prenup, but she spent all the money in the prenup. She had a monthly allowance of like $15,000 a month. And her twins told me that she was blowing through that in the first few days or a week. So that's the kind of money we're talking about. Christina and Jen said they'd go to the store and they would just buy racks of clothes, and they said that wasn't normal for teenagers. So the money wasn't satisfying Celeste. She didn't want to be with Steve and she didn't know how to get out. She was trapped. So she says, you know, I can't take it anymore. I'm going to kill myself. So she gets checked into a mental hospital in Austin for inpatient treatment. That's when she met Tracy Tarleton.

[A]

Tracy, well, what was she buying? What was she spending all this money on? How can you spend that much money? What is she doing? I guess it's Texas. I don't know.

[C]

She was doing whatever she wanted. You know, she, she loved jewelry, she loved clothes. Steve loved trips. They would go on first class trips around the world and he would ship his vodka around the globe and they would really, it would be top shelf, first class, wherever they went. So a lot of money went there.

[A]

Vodka.

[C]

Oh, that's how connected and that's how much alcohol was part of his life. He would ship his Wolf Schmidt vodka to vacation with them or it was no go because that's what he loved and he had the money to do it. I mean, that caused so many problems. They got into a fight and he was super drunk and he said something to Celeste that offended her. So she left. But she went into a five star hotel and took a first class ticket home. And then, you know, he came back and said, I'm sorry. And they, they rekindled their relationship again, but it was so volatile. One day she wants to kill herself and she's threatening all these things. The next day they're in love and everything is great. So there was a lot going on in that dynamic and the girls were struggling to figure it out. Why do we have all this money? Why is my mom, like, so violent and angry with us? And, you know, maybe Steve will just protect us.

[A]

So she ends up in a mental institution, basically a psychiatric ward. Is that right?

[C]

Yeah, it was an. In treatment. It was a treatment center here in Austin. And she was being treated for depression. And so she was there full time. Family would visit her. But then she met another woman who was in treatment, Tracey Tarleton, who was dealing with her own demons and depression and things like that. And they became really close.

[A]

How close?

[C]

They became lesbian lovers. But Celeste will deny it to this day. Tracy Tarleton says they were having a good time together and they were in love and she was manipulated by Celeste to do her bidding. And, and she was really trying to protect Celeste because Tracy thought maybe Steve is a bad guy and he shouldn't be with her and I came here at the right time.

[A]

I'll rescue her, take me to the night of. Like, this is to me, this is like what triggered you to be on this quest to find new information about this case all these years?

[C]

This was such a weird slow burn. The stuff came out on the trial before that night was even crazier. But that night. Westlake hills, Austin, Texas, 3:00am, a gunshot rings out through the hills. And it was violent crime. Like that didn't happen in Westlake in the 90s. It was a nice area, very ritzy. Austin country club mansions. You know, people were putting cameras in their homes before. Cameras in their homes were kind of a thing. And it was wired to the house, security was tight, gated community. How did the shooter get into Steve Baird's bedroom? Well, it's a big mansion. Investigators rush to the house in the morning. The amazing thing that I still can't believe, he gets shot in the stomach at point blank range, calls 91 1.

[B]

My cat just jumped out of my stomach. How did he, how did this happen? I've been in an ovul. I didn't all clap. I'm having a hard time figuring out what happened. I don't know what happened. I've never had this happen before.

[C]

He was lucid enough to say, I've been shot in the stomach. My guts jumped out of my stomach. The operator saying, well, what happened? I don't know. I was asleep and my wife's in the building. You know, contact her and come help me. She slept in another room because he had an old school CPAP that was super loud.

[A]

Right?

[C]

She wasn't in his bed.

[A]

So Celeste wasn't there. Celeste wasn't in his room.

[C]

She wasn't in his room. She was in the mansion in another wing. And she says she didn't hear the gunshot. So he gets shot in the stomach. Police rush over, he gets airlifted to the hospital. And they start looking around and they say, this is kind of weird. The lamps are kind of like leaned over, nothing's broken. The doors of the dressers were open. The clothes weren't even rifled through, the jewelry wasn't gone.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And they thought, well, this doesn't look like a robbery or a break in. So they're looking around, Celeste is in hysterics and what happened? Oh, my gosh, what happened? And they're trying to explain, well, your husband has been shot. He's been taken to the hospital, he needs help. And then investigators see a shotgun shell on the floor.

[A]

Well, tell me I mean, this 911 call is one of the craziest things I've ever heard. I mean, for, for this man with a CPAP machine on his face to call 91 1. I want our viewers to, to hear this call. We've got to play it for you.

[B]

Hello? Hello, I need an ambulance. Okay, so where do we get. Just came out of my stomach.

[A]

When you hear it, he's literally saying, my guts just jumped out of my stomach.

[C]

It's unbelievable. You know, he got shot with a shotgun right in the stomach at point blank range. Woke up out of a deep sleep and grabs the phone, old school phone, dials 911 and yeah, talks about his guts jumping out of his stomach. How does anyone survive that? And he had underlying medical conditions. You know, he was overweight, he had other medical conditions. And he gets shot in the stomach and survives. That wasn't part of the plan. And he wasn't supposed to get through that.

[A]

I don't think so either. I mean, and it is a crazy plan as we, we, we discover through this investigation. And you mentioned the shotgun shell. Why was that shotgun shell so important to investigators?

[C]

Well, besides, I did somewhere they could get that shotgun shell and trace it back to the shooter. They got this case. So it took him six days. And they knock on Tracy Tarleton's door. They said, can we see your gun? Do you have a gun? Oh, yeah. Her name was on the gun. They grabbed the gun. They go, mind if we kind of investigate this? Perfect match Ballistics shotgun shell came from Tracy Tarleton, her lesbian lovers. Shotgun.

[A]

How did they get to Tracy Tarlton? How did they get to her, though?

[C]

So this is interesting. You know, he gets rushed to the hospital. Everybody's worried about Steve. I think everybody in Austin said, who would want to shoot Steve Beard? Everybody loves Steve Beard. So one of the kids blurts out, I think it was that crazy Tracy Tarleton. And so, you know, notepad Tracy Tarleton. You know, that was a huge lead for them. They run it down. Of course. They take the shotgun shell to her house six days later and say, hey, is this yours?

[A]

So kids were like, don't mention Tracy Charlton. Then the kids are like, oh, Tracy Charlton.

[C]

Celeste said, don't bring up the name Tracy Charlton. None of you. I think it was one of the boyfriends didn't know. So he goes, oh, I would. It was that crazy Tracy Tarleton. And Celeste was livid. Then she kind of took control of the hospital room. She didn't allow police in there without her in there. She didn't want any questions to Steve. She was saying, hey, he's recovering from a gunshot wound. He's not able to talk. We're not going to do any interviews, nothing. She's the prime suspect, you know, right out of the gate. But then the Tracy Charlton name comes up.

[A]

So what do. How do we get back to Celeste, like, from all of this? I mean, it sounds like Tracy. Okay, you got Tracy. You got the shotgun shell. You got the shotgun. You got Tracy. How are we getting to Celeste? How. How is she implicated in this?

[C]

So how long do you have, Ann?

[A]

I know, right? What a tangled web we weave.

[C]

She's only charged with abuse to the elderly because he survived. This guy is tough, and he's on the treadmill. And one of his friends, Paul Whelan, says, you know, he's trying to walk and kind of rehab in the hospital. He says, hey, Steve, do you think Celeste had anything to do with this? And Steve just shut his friend down and said, no way. He had nothing. I love her. She loves me. There's no way it had to be Tracy. But Tracy was on the radar early because, you know, Steve loved to cook. And he had this Wednesday night barbecue, and every night at Wednesday, he would invite anybody in the community to come over, and he would do hamburgers and hot dogs, and, you know, there was alcohol flowing. And he noticed from across the courtyard when he was cooking that Tracy and Celeste, his wife, embraced in a kiss. That set him off. So Tracy was no longer allowed to be in the house, no longer could be near his wife, Celeste, and she was kind of banned. So that already set off a chain of events where everybody in the circle knew that, oh, Tracy's. Tracy's a problem here. So getting back to the hospital room and one of the kids saying, oh, it's probably that crazy Tracy Tarleton. So Steve survives three months. Then doctors come around Christmas time and say, I think you're going to get a New Year's gift. I think we're going to be able to release Steve to go back home from the hospital. From the hospital. He's been in the hospital for three months. You know, his gut is healing. Shotgun blast to his whole stomach area and groin. It was bad, but they say, okay, he's recovered well enough. So Celeste is taught how to change his ileostomy bag and his dressings and stuff like that. And the people I interviewed for this story, the documentary and the podcast, they said Celeste had open wounds on her hands and was trying to infect his wounds to see if he could get infections or sepsis. So he gets released from the hospital. She says, hey, let's go to the salon. He's not feeling well. He starts to get a fever. He is rushed back to the hospital with an infection. The infection causes a blood clot and an embolism, and he dies about 24 hours or so after he was released from the hospital. And now we have a murder case.

[A]

You sure do. You've got a murder case. And that is that. That is what was the. The. They thought they were gonna. They thought he was going to die right at. You know, the whole point of this was that he was shot. So we're. We're dealing with an attempted murder case. You're now got. You've got to charge with somebody with murder. Why are they going after Celeste is my question, I guess.

[C]

Well, they're not going after Celeste just yet. So Celeste goes, oh, my lesbian lover, who I'm not in love with, who I am not a lesbian. Everybody says they were. And so does Tracy Tarleton. Well, she's charged with murder. I'm kind of free. So one thing happened right after he died in the funeral. Something with the casket was too big for the mausoleum or something. It didn't fit. So they went casket shopping with the twins, and she said, hey, I want you guys to come along. And the girl said, that was kind of weird. And she gets into the place for caskets, and she said, hey, girls, since we're here, let's go over to the pink caskets. Let's pick out your caskets now. And the girls go, like, What? We're like 16, 17 years old. Why do we need a casket? So that freaks them out. So more attention gets put on Celeste. Like, what is wrong with this woman?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So then the girls try to kind of go underground and get away from their mom. And Celeste is living her best life. So she has an assistant, Donna Goodson. They go to the Houston Rodeo. They're partying together. They're traveling. They're starting to spend Steve's money left and right. And they meet another guy, Cole Johnson. Celeste falls in love with him immediately, and they're planning to get married. And somebody brings up to Celeste, you know, if Tracy Tarleton disappeared, you'd have no murder case. You'd have no trial. Maybe Tracy Charlton needs to go away. So she asked Donna, hey, how hard would it be to get a hitman? And Donna says, not hard. Anybody would do anything for money. So she starts paying Donna Goodson to get this hitman. And every time she calls Donna, she goes, okay, when is it going to happen? When are you going to. When are you going to kill Tracy? And she says, well, the hitman needs more money. And so she just was milking Celeste for more money and more money, and she realized there was no hitman and that was going away. She's got to focus on her wedding to her new husband. So she.

[A]

Right after Steve's passed away, right?

[C]

I mean, there's not even a foot of dirt on his grave, and she's already on the hunt for the next guy. So she moves up to Dallas. They're remodeling the mansion up there with her new husband or something. And then they get married and they go on their honeymoon. Well, Tracy's in jail, and she told me that she would get the Austin American Statesman every morning in her jail cell. And she read the latest update on Celeste Beard, which will soon be Celeste Beard Johnson. She gets married, and she's on her honeymoon in some beautiful tropical location, and Tracy realizes she lied to me. All those intimate late night conversations in bed saying that, hey, if we kill Steve, we can run away with his money, we can run away together and have a beautiful life was a lie. I've been played. She goes and requests a meeting with the prosecutor's office and says, hey, I'm going to roll on her. I don't care if I go to jail. I shot Steve Beard and I did it because of this, this, and this. And she laid out this incredible case against Celeste. Then they had what they needed from Tracy, and they arrested Celeste on murder charges.

[A]

And then that brings us to the trial of the century in Texas. Is that right?

[C]

This was huge. You had a rock star lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, defending Celeste Beard Johnson. He defended Durst, and he also took the case. David Koresh, his mom, and the Branch Davidians.

[A]

Waco, Texas.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, in Waco. So this, the Garan has street cred. He was a rock star, and he was a big time. So he's defending Celeste. It looks like a slam dunk case, like Celeste never pulled the trigger. So everything's coming together on this case. And it was really David versus Goliath, but the prosecutors knew they had. They had everything they needed and a secret weapon that they would release in trial that would blow this thing up in her face.

[A]

This was unbelievable. You see Dick de Guerin go back and look at this case, and it's just from somebody that, like, watches and listens to a lot of trials, to hear a lawyer of that magnitude, of that level, this guy Is like the best of the best.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

He still. Still pisses him off that he lost his case, still dies.

[C]

I think it might have played differently in a Dallas or a Houston, but he degraded Tracy Tarleton on the stand for being crazy, personal problems, delusional that she was a lesbian in Texas, and all of these things. So he was really trying to discredit her. And she came on, and her testimony, she was rock solid. She never swayed. And that was really, really turned it. But also, I was talking to the prosecutors and they said DeGuerin's antics didn't work. You know, he grabbed. I think he was staying at the Four Seasons, he grabbed a pillow from the Four Seasons and stuffed it under his shirt, under his suit, and said, I'm Steve Beard. Look at my big belly. The only reason he didn't get shot in the face is because his belly was so big. I think that might have offended the jurors because he was so well loved and he was a guy who did nothing. Everyone loved this guy. He was sleeping with his cpap, minding his own business, and, you know, he gets shot in the stomach.

[A]

Like you said, like televised like that. It was such a big deal that you could actually see what was going on in that courtroom.

[C]

This was theater. Celeste had big Texas hair, lots of jewelry, beautiful, flamboyant. She goes in the courtroom and she looks like an old school stereotypical, like, librarian with a pearl necklace, little soft sweater, hair up and glasses.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And everybody was like the same person. Well, that's not the Celeste I know. So Dagarin was making sure his script played like there is no way Celeste killed Steve Beard. But the stuff that came out in trial and before the shooting. Unbelievable.

[A]

Well, yeah, I mean, absolutely unbelievable. I mean, and also that what was recorded with the girls, I mean, it ended up. And I don't know how much I want to. I want everybody to watch this and. And see, you know, what happens for yourself. You're not going to believe it, but really, it's. I. I mean, in my head, like, it's the. What the twins said, what they recorded of their mom was sealed the deal for the prosecution.

[C]

Dick DeGuerin says the girls betrayed their mom and it was the worst betrayal ever. You know, Celeste, I don't want to get into the tape because it was so damning for Celeste, but when jurors heard it, Celeste went off so bad on her daughters on tape that they thought, oh, wow, this is like a Jekyll and Hyde. She's portrayed one way here, but she Lost it on that tape. Jurors. I talked to the lead juror, and she said, are you dead? Yeah. Who talks to their kids that way? So in the podcast that it drops on the same day as. So the documentary is Trophy Wife or Frame for Life. And my podcast is Love Lies in a Shotgun Shell. And I talked to the lead juror, and she said when she heard that tape in court, she went, oh, no, this changes the whole dynamic. I believe everyone else now. I believe the girls and the hell they were going through living with this.

[A]

She sounded psycho.

[C]

She is screaming so loud at the top of her lungs and degrading her children so badly. Like the juror said, how could you talk to your kids like that, even if you're angry? DeGuerin made a play in court where he said that was doctored, that was fake, that was edited wrong. But what, Ann, can you imagine how hard it was for those girls to take the stand against their mom and play that tape?

[A]

It was. And it was so risky, too, because, I mean, when you think about it, like, these girls taking the. The sand. They. They do this. That. Degarin said that it's been spliced together. I mean, you guys, like. Because this is obviously like pre digital media, so that they're talking about literally splicing together old tape. Yeah, these kids know how to splice tape. Like, what are you talking about, equipment now?

[C]

It's ridiculous. You know, the thing about Celeste, I interviewed her in prison for the podcast, and she gives you a little bit of rope, and then she starts pulling you in inch by inch. And then you kind of think, oh, man, maybe she was wronged. And then you kind of snap back and you realize how much research you've done on the case, and like, whoa, I get it now. I get it. How she kind of drew everybody in and kind of commanded the scene and orchestrated everything.

[A]

Do you miss Steven?

[D]

I miss him every day. And I'm so sorry that my kids just ruined his life. Really ruined his life. And, I mean, honestly, I have nothing to look forward to. I mean, I have my mother, and if I could earn my freedom, then that would be different, you know, and I could spend her last days with taking care of her because. Because I don't want to hurt my mom.

[A]

That's another thing in the documentary. And with your podcast, we're going to get an incredible insight into her mind. And you know what? I. I think that this is also one of those cases, and I love the way it's the title of it. Trophy Wife or Frame for life. Because I feel like you really do have to watch all the different sides of the personalities here and make up your own mind, because the exclus of the access to these, to the. To the people in this story, in this case, are extraordinary.

[C]

Absolutely. I've never seen these people. This story has been told. Never like this. Never like this. And the producer I got to give a shout out to, Liz Elkington.

[A]

She's incredible.

[C]

She got things out of Celeste that nobody's really heard before. And she talked to Tracey Tarleton and her daughter Jennifer. What you hear in that documentary is pretty much exclusive. First I've ever heard.

[A]

Watching the documentary, my jaw drops on the floor at one minute when you see Jen, one of her twins, who has been through hell and back, and, oh, my gosh, we haven't even gotten to like what Jen went through in her own life post Celeste and Steve. She has the weirdest tie to this ever that you've ever, ever heard. It's incredible.

[D]

On Halloween of 2017, I never thought I was gonna find myself in the

[C]

same nightmare situation that Steve went through.

[A]

I'm putting a pin in that. Hold on. I'm not gonna forget. But. But, Walt, I understand that it was that you played a major role in being able to go back to the scene of the crime.

[C]

This was so wild. Long story short, I was at actually at a tech conference in. In San Francisco, and there was a bunch of tech guys from Texas there, and there was a mixer, and I was just talking to somebody, and he said, yeah, I just moved to Austin. I kind of love it. I said, oh, how long have you been there? Since about six years. We moved up by Austin Country Club. And I said, oh, interesting. Okay, what street? Toro Canyon. And then, you know. You know, when you're a reporter and you're on a story, you go, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

[A]

You're like, we're on Toro Canyon. Which street?

[C]

And he goes, you know, right off by Austin Country Club. And then I thought, well, maybe I'll ruin the mood if I say anything, so I'm going to wait. So I was in another conversation, but I was with an earshot of him, and he says to another guy, yeah, it was weird. My real estate agent said, you know, this is the Steve Beard house. That's when my head goes, what? So I became friends with him. I also cover tech in my job here in Austin as a reporter and anchor. And so I became friends with him, and I said, you know, I'd really love to see the house and he says, I'll try to make that happen for you. You know, I didn't want to push it because, you know, there's so much darkness tied to this story in the house. So he goes, hey, Walt, you want to come over? He goes, yeah. So he gives me this framed picture of the control panel in their bedroom that says Celeste's bathroom lights. You know, the control panel, all the lights and the breakers, media room, Celeste, Steve Beard's office. And he framed it for me. I was like, this is kind of creepy and cool at the same time.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

But he said, yeah, I'll show you

[A]

your own murder chore.

[C]

Yeah. He said, you can come in. We. We gutted it. We're gonna. We ripped it down to the studs. This is the weirdest room we've ever been in. He says, things have moved. It's got a weird sense in there. Almost haunted by Steve Beard's ghost. And so, yeah, it was. It's down to the studs. You'll see it in the documentary. And I was able to let Jen see it for the first time since all that went down. It. That's a moment in the documentary that is. Is pretty powerful.

[A]

It is, Walt. And it also. It's. It's super creepy. I mean, you don't forget it, you know, that she's coming back to something, that. That she's facing demons, that maybe she never thought she would have access to that house. The fact that all of these things came together. All of these things came together for her to be able to. To actually go through a healing process is pretty remarkable.

[C]

I think it was a full circle. Circle moment for sure. But I can't wait to see the documentary. So, yeah, touring the house is really interesting because one thing really doesn't make sense, and it's a V house. So Steve room was over here. And Celeste said she was in another area of the house so she couldn't hear the gunshot. But, Ann, this had marble floors. It was a gunshot blast. There was no silencer.

[A]

Right.

[C]

So she. She claimed she was behind the media wall that was insulated, that had all the media equipment in there. And I went over the media wall. There is no way. And he said, let me yell from a corner of the house. Can you hear me? And I said, I could hear you yelling. He said, Imagine 3am it's totally quiet, and a shotgun goes off. You're going to hear that she never got up.

[A]

I just want to touch on the fact that Jen is so brave in this documentary. She has another full circle moment that is horrifying. And, and she had to do her own recovery. Can we just touch on that for a minute? Because I don't want to leave that out.

[C]

It was a jaw dropping story for me to hear. So you're right. She went through all this traumatic childhood, dealt with his shooting and death, dealing with her mom. She's trying to make a way for herself. She's in Austin, she has some roommates in Austin at a house. And she, she, she gets crossways with one of her roommates who moves out. But it's around Halloween, she's having a party and she says, you know what, you can come back to the party. We're all good. So he's at the party, things are going well, and alcohol and stuff, I guess. He comes back to the party with a shotgun, shoots Jen in the stomach and she's rushed to the hospital. She goes through the surgery and coming out of anesthesia, wakes up, the doctor's there and says, hey, Jen, remember me? I'm the surgeon who saved your dad's life and you're going to be okay. You have the same exact shotgun blast. Are you kidding me? Unbelievable.

[A]

This story is unbelievable. It's unbelievable.

[C]

We didn't even get into the poisonings. I mean, goodness gracious, it's unbelievable. Spiking his drinks.

[A]

She denies all of it though, right? She's still like, no, never.

[C]

But everybody around her says the same story verbatim. So when they were testifying, they were all talking about it, and then there was attempted murder that Tracy was involved in and they just chickened out. It was the bag incident. Remember that?

[A]

Right? Yeah.

[C]

He collapses on the floor and they put a plastic bag in his head and they wanted to suffocate him in his drunken stupor. They start freaking out because the bag's going and they couldn't do it. So they take the bag off his head and they come up with a different plan. What?

[A]

You know, and, and you know, that's what I really wanted to hear and see. I mean, for my own eye, just to understand how Celeste could walk that, walk away from that. Like how she can say that she wasn't involved with all of these people that, that continuously say, oh, no, she was going, she was gunning for him. Literally.

[C]

You know, it's, it's such a wild case because there's so many different avenues to go down. And at the end of the day. And Celeste didn't pull the trigger.

[A]

Right.

[C]

You know, you could easily argue that she was framed because he died from complications of the gunshot, and Tracey Tarleton pulled the trigger.

[A]

Well, and she. By the way, I mean, it's not. When you watch the documentary and listen to this podcast, you're gonna understand that. Tracy, there's a reason why she can talk to us right now, too. She's. She. She definitely got a different sentence than Celeste did.

[C]

You know, it was a different time. I don't know if you could have the same. People are still divided over this. I don't think you could cut the same deal today. So she laid out this incredible case so the prosecutors had a slam dunk. She got 20 years and parole after 10. And she hit parole, and she's out. So she's a free woman living in Texas.

[A]

You can see the pain in her face, too, in all of their faces. Honestly, it is a tragic story. It's hard to believe. The craziness that Celeste, the chaos of Celeste.

[C]

You just can't make this up. And it gets stranger and stranger at every turn. And right when you think it's over, a hitman comes into it. I don't know. This is the. This story is nuts.

[A]

It really is, Walt. Well, I'm so glad we got to talk about it. Thank you so much.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

Anne, drop a comment below. I can't wait to hear what you think about this new documentary on Celeste Beard. And be sure to like and subscribe to Crimly Obsessed so we can keep the conversation going.